PCUN

Mission:PCUN’s fundamental goal is to empower farmworkers to understand and take action against systematic exploitation and all of its effects.

Facts:

PCUN is the largest Latino organization in the State of Oregon and second oldest.

Founded in 1985 by 80 farmworkers, PCUN has since registered more than 6,300 members, 98% of which are Mexican and Central American immigrants.

PCUN works closely with a wide variety of other local organizations, including eight “sister organizations” brought together under the umbrella of “CAPACES”. CAPACES is a movement-building collaborative with nearly 100 staffers and volunteers fostering relationships, cross-training, plus more shared sense of vision and scale. Combine the CAPACES organizations serve well over 10,000 Latino families in Oregon.

PCUN’s history can be found at the University of Oregon’s Knight Library under the library’s Special Collections archives.

Major Programs:

PCUN’s Collective Bargaining Committee (CBC): The CBC negotiates and implements union contracts with local farms. The CBC uses various direct organizing tactics, such as visiting fields, distributing leaflets, and holding house meetings and marches.

PCUN’s Service Center: PCUN Service Center provides members in good standing with support services such as translation, recommendations to lawyers for work-related incidents, and immigration services (usually petitioning for close family members to gain legal status). PCUN members in good standing are also covered by a group insurance policy which pays a funeral benefit if a member or immediate family member dies.

PCUN’s community radio station, Radio Movimiento:“Radio Movimiento” (Movement Radio) with the slogan “La Voz del Pueblo” (The Voice of the People) was created in 2006 to educate, raise political consciousness, and entertain our membership and base of supporters. You can hear KPCN in Woodburn, Canby, Hubbard, Gervais, Brooks, and northeast Salem Oregon, which are home to more than 50,000 Latinos and you can also stream it online from anywhere.

PCUN’s Policy work: PCUN works with the Oregon Legislature to promote, protect, and develop just farmworker rights through legal means. On a national level, PCUN collaborates with other organizations to promote legalization for undocumented workers and to ensure immigrants’ rights.